MINNEAPOLIS: The American citizen shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a local veterans hospital who “wanted to make a difference in this world,” her family members said.
Alex Pretti, 37, was shot to death while fighting with immigration officials on an icy road in the Midwest city, less than three weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car.
The latest killing sparked fresh protests and rebukes from local officials, who questioned the Trump administration’s quick claims that Pretti intended to harm federal agents while participating in demonstrations against a broad immigration crackdown.
Pretti was “a kind-hearted soul who cared deeply about his family and friends” and those he cared for at a Minneapolis Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, his parents said in a statement Saturday.
“Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact,” his parents said.
Dimitri Drekonja, chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at the Minneapolis VA hospital and a colleague of Pretti, called him “a good, kind person who lived to help.”
“He had such a great attitude. We chatted between patients about trying to ride a mountain bike together. Now it will never happen,” Drekonja wrote on the Bluesky social media platform.
He said Pretti was a nurse who worked “to support critically ill veterans.”
Pretti graduated from high school in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 2006, according to local media reports. She attended nursing school before joining the VA.
Trump administration officials have tried to characterize Pretti as a violent attacker, but their accounts are contradicted by the video, which AFP has not been verified, widely reported by the American media.
Pretti’s parents said their son had stood in front of a federal agent who shoved a female protester shortly before her death.
They denounced what they called “disgusting lies” from the Trump administration and said the gun found on Pretti, which local officials said he was licensed to carry, was not in his hand when he was shot.
“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s cowardly, murderous ICE thugs,” his parents said in the statement.
“He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head as he tries to protect the woman who ICE just pushed down while being sprayed with pepper spray.”
The family asked the public to “get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”
“We are heartbroken but also very angry,” they said.
